You ask, my Lesbia, how many of your kisses
are enough and more than enough for me.
As big a number as the Libyan sand-grains
that lie at asafoetida-bearing Cyrene
between the oracle of sultry Jupiter
and the sacred tomb of old Battus;
or as many stars, when the night is quiet,
see the secret loves of men.
So many kisses for mad Catullus to kiss you
are enough and more than enough, [kisses]
which neither the curious can count
nor an evil tongue bewitch.
Quaeris, quot mihi bāsiātiōnēs
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
Quam magnus numerus Libyssae harēnae
lasarpīciferīs iacet Cyrēnīs
ōrāclum Iovis inter aestuōsī
et Battī veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
aut quam sīdera multa, cum tacet nōx,
fūrtīvōs hominum vident amōrēs:
tam tē bāsia multa bāsiāre
vēsānō satis et super Catullō est,
quae nec pernumerāre cūriōsī
possint nec mala fascināre lingua.
Note: lines 7.2 and 7.4 are examples of hendecasyllable meter beginning with an iambus (tuae, lăsar-). Unlike Martial, who consistently uses a spondee (— —) in the first foot, Catullus sometimes takes the freedom of using a trochee (— u) or an iambus (u —) instead.
